{"id":358,"date":"2019-02-13T06:24:57","date_gmt":"2019-02-13T06:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ameenulhasan.com\/?p=358"},"modified":"2019-12-18T07:48:20","modified_gmt":"2019-12-18T07:48:20","slug":"16-an-nahl-the-honey-bee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameenulhasan.com\/16-an-nahl-the-honey-bee\/","title":{"rendered":"16. An Nahl (The Honey Bee)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/www.ameenulhasan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/Quran\/123-Al%20Nahl%20%28The%20Honey%20Bee%29.MP3\"><\/audio><figcaption>Ayah 1-23 Ten signs from universe to ponder over<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/www.ameenulhasan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/Quran\/124-Al%20Nahl%20%28The%20Honey%20Bee%29.MP3\"><\/audio><figcaption>Ayah 24-42 &#8211; Objections from polytheists and rejectors of hadiths<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/www.ameenulhasan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/Quran\/125-Al%20Nahl%20%28The%20Honey%20Bee%29.MP3\"><\/audio><figcaption>Ayah 43-65 &#8211; The messenger as low maker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/www.ameenulhasan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/Quran\/126-Al%20Nahl%20%28The%20Honey%20Bee%29.MP3\"><\/audio><figcaption>Ayah 66-70 &#8211; Curative properties of Honey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/www.ameenulhasan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/Quran\/127-Al%20Nahl%20%28The%20Honey%20Bee%29.MP3\"><\/audio><figcaption>Ayah 70-89 Birds &#8211; A Sign of Allah<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/www.ameenulhasan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/Quran\/128-Al%20Nahl%20%28The%20Honey%20Bee%29.MP3\"><\/audio><figcaption>Ayah 90-96 Justice and Excellence; Obscenity and refusals <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/www.ameenulhasan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/Quran\/129-Al%20Nahl%20%28The%20Honey%20Bee%29.MP3\"><\/audio><figcaption>Ayah 97-128 Ibrahim &#8211; The leader of Salvation and slave of Allah<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Name<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The name, An-Nahl, of this Surah has been taken from v. 68. This is merely to distinguish it from other Surahs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Period of Revelation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The following internal evidence shows that this Surah was revealed during the last Makkan stage of Prophethood:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>v. 41 clearly shows that persecution had forced some Muslims to emigrate to Habash before the revelation of this Surah.<\/li><li>It is evident from v. 106 that at that time the persecution of the Muslims was at its height. Therefore a problem had arisen in regard to the utterance of a blasphemous word, without actual disbelief, under unbearable conditions. The problem was that if one did so how he should be treated.<\/li><li>vv. 112-114 clearly refer to the end of seven year famine that had struck Makkah some years after the appointment of the Holy Prophet as Allah&#8217;s Messenger.<\/li><li>There is a reference to v. 116 of this Surah in VI: 145, and v. 118 of this Surah contains a reference to VI: 146. This is a proof that both these Surahs (VI and XVI) were sent down in the same period.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>The general style of the Surah also supports the view that this was revealed during the last stage at Makkah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Central Theme<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>All the topics of the Surah revolve round different aspects of the Message, ie., refutation of&nbsp;<em>shirk<\/em>, proof of&nbsp;<em>Tauhid<\/em>, and warning of the consequences of the rejection of and opposition and antagonism to the Message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Topics of Discussion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The very first verse gives direct and strict warning to those who were rejecting the Message outright, as if to say, &#8220;Allah&#8217;s decision has already been made concerning your rejection of the Message. Why are you then clamoring for hastening it? Why don&#8217;t you make use of the respite that is being given to you!&#8221; And this was exactly what the disbelievers of Makkah needed at the time of the revelation of this Surah. For they challenged the Holy Prophet over and over again: &#8220;Why don&#8217;t you bring that scourge with which you have been threatening us! For we have not only rejected your Message but have been openly opposing it for a long time.&#8221; Such a challenge had become a by-word with them, which they frequently repeated as a clear proof that Muhammad (Allah&#8217;s peace be upon him) was not a true Prophet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Immediately after this warning they have been admonished to give up&nbsp;<em>shirk<\/em>, for this false creed was the main obstacle in the way of the Message. Then the following topics come over and over again, one after the other:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Very convincing proofs of&nbsp;<em>Tauhid<\/em>&nbsp;and refutation of&nbsp;<em>shirk<\/em>&nbsp;have been based on the plain signs in the universe and in man&#8217;s own self.<\/li><li>The objections of the disbelievers have been answered, their arguments refuted, their doubts removed and their false pretexts exposed.<\/li><li>Warnings have given of the consequences of persistence in false ways and antagonism to the Message.<\/li><li>The moral changes which the Message of the Holy Prophet aims to bring practically in human life have been presented briefly in an appealing manner. The&nbsp;<em>mushriks<\/em>&nbsp;have been told that belief in Allah, which they also professed, demanded that it should not be confined merely to lip service, but this creed should take a definite shape in moral and practical life.<\/li><li>The Holy Prophet and his companions have been comforted and told about the attitude they should adopt in the face of antagonism and persecution by the disbelievers.<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Name The name, An-Nahl, of this Surah has been taken from v. 68. This is merely to distinguish it from other Surahs. Period of Revelation The following internal evidence shows<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameenulhasan.com\/16-an-nahl-the-honey-bee\/\" class=\"readmore\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">16. An Nahl (The Honey Bee)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameenulhasan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameenulhasan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameenulhasan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameenulhasan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameenulhasan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameenulhasan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1087,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameenulhasan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358\/revisions\/1087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameenulhasan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameenulhasan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameenulhasan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}